Amazon Echo Club

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I just tried my Echo Plus and it does give a blue ring and knows what time it is. I did not test further though. I do know that it won't control my Kasa Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulbs though, however I can control them via their Kasa app w/o internet as long as WiFi is working. But these bulbs use their own built-in hubs rather than the Echo Plus's hub.

Yeah, I'd assume that local control only works with devices directly connected to the Echo's hub, not linked through another service, since any interaction with the linked account (kasa, wemo, wink, etc) would require internet.

[wodin]

Wow, just imagine what life will be like when the solar kill shot takes our the whole internet and electric grid. Why, we'll need to re-learn how to lite the charcoal grill with MATCHES! Be thankful that we won't have to rub sticks together until the Bic runs out of butane.

I guess I can recharge my cell phone in my car, until I run out of gas; but then why bother when all the towers are dark. Hmmm, that might be a good book title, "Dark Tower" (Sorry Stephen).

Thank goodness I have a hand crank flashlight.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

Wow, just imagine what life will be like when the solar kill shot takes our the whole internet and electric grid. Why, we'll need to re-learn how to lite the charcoal grill with MATCHES! Be thankful that we won't have to rub sticks together until the Bic runs out of butane.

I guess I can recharge my cell phone in my car, until I run out of gas; but then why bother when all the towers are dark. Hmmm, that might be a good book title, "Dark Tower" (Sorry Stephen).

Thank goodness I have a hand crank flashlight.

That reminds me of Cyber Storm by Matthew Mather, which I listened to on audiobook a while back. Some good urban survival bits, and (minor spoiler ahead)...

Spoiler:

A code geek who hacks their cell phones to work via a local mesh network while the towers are dark.

ApK

[OtinG]

I’m a ham (amateur radio operator) so I’ll be able to use solar power to operate my radios and communicate old school.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I’m a ham (amateur radio operator) so I’ll be able to use solar power to operate my radios and communicate old school.

So you can talk to all of the other vintage retrogrades? Did'ja know the Army is standing down many (if not all) of the MARS stations? And the Navy-Marine program has already been closed.

At least you'll be able to talk to someone.

[ApK]

I'm a ham as well. The hobby has been getting a bit of a resurgence among Preppers. Sort of like vinyl records among hipsters. But ham has always had a strong base in emergency and community service comms

[OtinG]

I’m a member of the Tarrant County RACES and we do a lot of spotting for the National Weather Service. I’m not a prepper. Regardless of what Woden thinks we can still talk around the world when conditions are good. Look ma no satellites or cell towers!

MARS has been useless for decades. It was perhaps a good idea back during WWII, and it did a nice service of relaying messages to and from service personnel and their families back when snail mail was the alternative, but it never had any appeal to me. Cellular phones and the internet rendered it obselete a long time ago.

[OtinG]

Finally got my WiFi back this morning after nearly two days. Nice to have Alexa working again. Without WiFi my two Dot3's and my Dot2 would only respond to commands with a red circle. The Echo Plus2 was the only device to give me a blue circle, but she could do little more than tell me the time. I asked her what the temperature was in my living Room and even though she has a built-in thermometer she gave me a wordy reply about not having a WiFi connection. The thing I missed the most during the Alexa blackout was not being able to listen to my whitenoise skill while sleeping. I actually awoke this morning about 4am and could hear one of my cats snoring! I definitely like the whitenoise to drown out the unwanted noises.

[Bilbo1967]

Has there been an update recently that has removed the possibility of having Tunein Pro as the default application when asking for radio stations?

For as long as I can recall I'd been able to say to any Alexa device in my home, "Alexa, play Talk Sport" and it would stream the Talk Sport radio station for me via Tunein. Now, if I say, "Alexa, play Talk Sport", I just get the response, "Here's a station you may like from Amazon Music, …." (and it's never anything I would like!). I have to say "Alexa, play Talk Sport on Tunein" to get what I want.


I've tried looking at the default settings in the app, but I don't see a default setting for radio. Is this something that anybody else has experienced? Can it be fixed?

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

I'm a ham as well. The hobby has been getting a bit of a resurgence among Preppers. Sort of like vinyl records among hipsters. But ham has always had a strong base in emergency and community service comms

I'm an Extra Class ham and occasionally work HF, although the atmospherics have sucked for a long time now. I mostly use the VHF/UHF bands these days and mostly for Skywarn stuff. I hate that most of the resurgence is because of digital voice via modes like DSTAR, DMR, etc. that require internet repeater systems. Not my cup of tea and not really radio, mosty just internet which I can do with my phone much easier. Besides that digital voice uses such little bandwidth that it is often impossible or nearly impossible to understand. I taught a friends Boy Scout Troop a class on radio technology and 98% of them showed little interest, but Gen Z kids were born with a smartphone in one hand and an Instagram account in the other, so no surprise there!

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Has there been an update recently that has removed the possibility of having Tunein Pro as the default application when asking for radio stations?

For as long as I can recall I'd been able to say to any Alexa device in my home, "Alexa, play Talk Sport" and it would stream the Talk Sport radio station for me via Tunein. Now, if I say, "Alexa, play Talk Sport", I just get the response, "Here's a station you may like from Amazon Music, …." (and it's never anything I would like!). I have to say "Alexa, play Talk Sport on Tunein" to get what I want.


I've tried looking at the default settings in the app, but I don't see a default setting for radio. Is this something that anybody else has experienced? Can it be fixed?

I just look in my Alexa app and you can still setup TuneIn under Music Services, but you cannot set it as the Default Station apparently. It only lists Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and SiriusXM as the options under Default Station. Amazon is notorious for constantly changing things, so no clue when they made those changes or which changes might be on the way in a future upgrade.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I just look in my Alexa app and you can still setup TuneIn under Music Services, but you cannot set it as the Default Station apparently. It only lists Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and SiriusXM as the options under Default Station. Amazon is notorious for constantly changing things, so no clue when they made those changes or which changes might be on the way in a future upgrade.

Thanks for looking.

That's what I see as well (although I don't use iHeartRadio or SiriusXM so I only have Amazon Music listed under Default Station). A bit annoying, but not the end of the world I suppose.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by ApK

Only the Echo Plus (with the built in hub) has some local control features, I believe.
My Wink Hub supposedly has local control for lighting and lock products, which is better than nothing, so in the event of an outage, I can at least control the lights with my phone app, but not Alexa. This is important for my kitchen lights, because, unlike the GE Link bulbs we have elsewhere, the Halo lights don't always revert to "on" when you flick the power switch, they remember their last state.

They all appear to remember, and annunciate, reminders, alarms and timers, even with the Internet off. And for bulbs/switches/plugs -- the Kasa app works well with TP-Link devices, as long as there is local connectivity (ie, the router is still up providing IP addresses.)

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by CRussel

They all appear to remember, and annunciate, reminders, alarms and timers, even with the Internet off. And for bulbs/switches/plugs -- the Kasa app works well with TP-Link devices, as long as there is local connectivity (ie, the router is still up providing IP addresses.)

I used my Kasa app to control the bulbs during the outage because the router was still working--just no internet. I didn't try any reminders or timers on my Echo Plus2, but all three of my Dots gave me only a red ring when I tried talking to them. Alexa's way of giving the middle finger! Perhaps some of the other devices which I don't own would work w/o WiFi, but the Dot2 and Dot3 didn't.

[wodin]

Alexa Gone Bad: When A.I. Assistants Turn On Us

In the new ‘Child’s Play’ film, the wicked Chucky doll is reconceived as an A.I. assistant. But what if our real smart-home helpers rebel in less murderous ways?

NOW THAT the “Smart Home of the Future” is finally here, we can shout at A.I. assistants like Amazon’s Alexa to start manipulating our fancy TVs, lamps and coffee makers—then shout at them again when, as so often happens, they fail us. It’s no wonder sci-fi books and movies often assume robots will turn on humanity. That’s essentially what happens in the reboot of the “Child’s Play” horror series, in which the smart-yet-sinister Chucky doll, reconceived as a walking Alexa-like device, goes in for the kill.